"One Of Our Poorer Nights": Special Teams Hurt Red Wings In 4-1 Loss To Flames

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The Detroit Red Wings didn't want their final trip at the historic Scotiabank Saddledome against the Calgary Flames to go like this.

It was a power outage for Detroit, who failed to convert on either power play opportunity they had during the night. Meanwhile, the host Flames managed to score on both chances they got, including an unforced delay-of-game penalty late in the second period en route to a 4-1 win. 

Afterward, head coach Todd McLellan pulled no punches about how his club performed.

“They were obviously better than us in multiple areas, like the special teams alone,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “You konw, I thought it was one of our poorer nights, as far as execution goes - passing, and when we did work hard and we got offensive opportunities, passes were in the skates and too far ahead.

A lack of overall details cost us." 

It was a costly penalty from forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård late in the second period that set the stage for the Flames to put the contest out of reach, which they did courtesy of a PPG from Matvei Gridin.

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“I thought the first was maybe our best period - we made a grave mistake on the first one (first Flames goal), but we fought our way back into it, and even up the game. And after that, we extend a shift, and we shoot one over the glass - those are the little things our team can’t afford to do," McLellan said.

"We can’t survive those moments; we don’t score enough. Tonight proved it.”

The Red Wings will wrap up their road swing with a stop in Edmonton at Rogers Place, a venue that McLellan knows well as the former coach of the Oilers. 

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